God of War Director: “I Know I’ve Got a Couple More of These in Me”

July 26, 2017Written by Jason Dunning

When God of Warreleases in early 2018 for PlayStation 4, it will see an older Kratos and his son, Atreus, travelling through a land of Norse mythology. Clearly, a lot of work has gone into building the world, and when the Daily Star brought up how this presumably isn’t a one-and-done situation, Director Cory Barlog revealed that he has plans for multiple games:

For me, I am just trying to get this game done. But I will say that when I chose this story, I had chosen it because I already outlined and mapped out stories for multiple games. I have an arc in my head that goes well beyond this game and everything that we are doing in God of War, to me, is very much building towards that.

Like, you see the second God of War game and it ends with Kratos going up to Olympus. Everybody said that it was the stupidest decision like why are you doing this, nobody wants a cliffhanger ending. But I was like, whatever, this is awesome. This is telling people more to come, this is great.

And with this game, I think people know that we’re going to be here for a while. Me personally, I know I’ve got a couple more of these in me.

Something Sony Santa Monica spent time building history for is Kratos’s axe, but Barlog says they’ve intentionally held those details back. Instead, they’ll explain its history throughout the game.

“It is more than just a weapon, it is absolutely a piece of history that connects directly to them and connects to the rest of the world as well,” he added. “It’s definitely important.”

As for how Atreus will work in combat, Barlog referenced Dead to Rights and its dog companion, adding, “To me, that game mastered the ability to have a game with a companion which is never a burden.” He continued by talking about the risk/reward scenario when you send him out:

In this game, you enter into similar situations and you are actively saying I’m entering into a risk/reward scenario. We talked to a bunch of other studios who’d done this and some cautioned us against it. But we’ve established some core set of rules like, you don’t want this kid to be a burden, you don’t want him to be the reason you die, you don’t want him to steal your kills. Everything he does is helping you but not taking anything away from you. Player agency is so important.

During battle Kratos and Atreus will talk about tactics, but afterwards, Atreus will ask how he did and Kratos might respond by saying he wasn’t good enough. “So the child will process that as he’s not satisfied with me, I’m not strong enough – but it’s just Kratos trying to prepare him,” Barlog added. “A big theme of the game is Kratos mastering his own rage and the lesson he’s trying to pass onto his son. Don’t just get mad for no reason, use it, channel it, make it into a weapon so you can survive.”